


Chemicals and Love

by Clarisse (transnymphtaire)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-13
Updated: 2017-02-13
Packaged: 2018-09-24 04:33:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 912
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9701927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transnymphtaire/pseuds/Clarisse
Summary: Tom gets a Valentine's Day gift from a friend, and he finds himself unsure of what to do with it.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [valenkisa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/valenkisa/gifts).



> I wasn't going to write anything for Valentine's this year, as I have a deadline for a school assignment, and I'm doing art for the Tomarry Valentine Exchange, but I'm procrastinating on the assignment.
> 
> Also; Happy Birthday, valenkisa!

Love is a concept based on chemicals in your brain, and Valentine’s Day is a capitalistic holiday created to trick the masses to spend money on silly, short-lived gifts and unnecessary romantic gestures. Tom has had this opinion for years, and there’s nothing that can change his mind about it. Love is for fools, and Valentine’s Day is for idiots.

Harry Potter is neither a fool nor an idiot though, so when the younger show up outside the Slytherin common room with red cheeks and a wrapped gift, Tom finds himself accepting it with a sincere, but short and straight to the point thank you. He then lets the door to the common room close in Harry’s face, as he doesn’t want to open what might be an embarrassing gift under Harry’s expecting glance.

Instead, Tom brings the gift with him to his dorm room. It’s thankfully empty - his best guess is that his classmates have all found places in the castle to meet up with their dates. He uses three spells to lock the door, to be on the safe side. While he usually gets gifts each Valentine, he has as habit to burn them. He doesn’t want anyone to know that he’s considering to keep this gift, simply because Harry was the one to give it to him.

It’s with a sense of unwanted anticipation that Tom sits down on his bed, with the gift on his lap. He takes a moment to memorise the look of the simple wrapping - red paper tied with a silver string. Nothing extravagant, but neither had he expected anything extravagant from Harry. Neither of them come from money; both being orphaned - Tom by death and choice, Harry by war.

After spending close to five minutes simply looking at the gift, he starts to carefully remove the silver string. First after the string is placed besides him, Tom starts to unwrap the gift. He takes care to not damage the wrapping paper, even if he doesn’t intend to keep it. He has never understood people who rip their gifts open; as much if not more care is often put into the act of gift wrapping in comparison with the act of purchasing.

To his surprise, the gift is not a silly token bought from a store, nor some sort of candy. It’s not even a book, a gift which he often gets for Christmas and his birthday, though he celebrates neither. Instead, his gift is a pair of hand-sewn gloves, perfect for collecting potions ingredients but also made for dueling. Tom runs the material through his fingers; it’s a combination of leather and dragonhide. The palms of the gloves are leather, as are the pads of the fingers, but the rest is quality dragonhide. He would have questioned how Harry could afford it, if it weren’t for his knowledge that one of the Weasleys work with dragons.

All in all, it’s a very thoughtful gift that must have taken lots of time. Tom feels touched against his will. He carefully puts the gloves away in his trunk, as he tries to think of the next step. He needs to confront Harry for starters; although it’s Valentine’s Day, the gloves doesn’t have to be a confession of love. It would have helped if there had been a note included, but as it is Tom is left clueless - a feeling he loathes.

Thankfully, it’s not hard to find Harry. Tom only has to search the kitchen, where he immediately find Harry talking to one of the house elves.

“Thank you for the gloves,” Tom starts, which results in Harry jumping and turning around. “They’re of lovely quality, and greatly appreciated.”

“I was going to give them to you for your birthday,” Harry confesses. “But I ran out of time. Valentine was the next best thing.”

“Oh,” Tom finds himself disappointed, and he doesn’t know why. “So you didn’t mean anything by it?”

Harry’s cheeks turn reddish once more, and Tom wonders if it’s from embarrassment or something else.

“Well… they don’t have to mean anything more,” Harry says awkwardly. “Unless you want them to.”

Tom unconsciously tilts his head to the side as he considers. He can’t deny that Harry is physically attractive, nor can he deny that there’s few others whose company he tolerates. Not to mention that he thinks of Harry when he sees or hear things that he knows the other would appreciate. He has convinced himself that love is only chemicals in the brain, but… why would he care for Harry if he doesn’t care for any of his other so-called friends? If anyone is an exception to the rule, it wouldn’t surprise him if it turned out to be Harry.

“I want them to.” Tom decides, and closes the distance between them. He doesn’t know what to do when he stands in front of Harry, only centimeters stopping their bodies from touching, but it’s okay. Harry seems to have it under control.

“Good,” Harry answers with a smile as bright as the sun. “I’ve wanted to do this for a while.”

Harry stands on tiptoe, and places a kiss on Tom’s cheek. Tom finds that it’s his turn to blush.

“You know, Valentine’s Day might not be so bad if it’s with you.” Tom decides, and bends his head slightly to meet Harry’s lips in a soft, curious kiss.

Love might only be chemicals, but it doesn’t make it any less real.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments feed authors.


End file.
